AUTHOR BIO & BLOG

My current project--the Trump-Russia Timeline--has become the definitive resource for working journalists covering the story. MSNBC’s "The Last Word" host Lawrence O’Donnell described the Timeline: “It’s the greatest tool that we journalists have to work with every day as we stare at this story.”

Steven J. Harper is an attorney, adjunct professor at Northwestern University Law School, and author of four books, including Crossing Hoffa: A Teamster's Story (a Chicago Tribune "Best Book of the Year") and The Lawyer Bubble -- A Profession in Crisis. He blogs at The Belly of the Beast. He is the creator of "The Trump-Russia Timeline" originally at BillMoyers.com, which now appears at Dan Rather's News & Guts and at Just Security.

In addition to public appearances, Steve's op-eds have appeared in The New York Times and numerous other publications. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has been included in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business and The Best Lawyers in America. For 30 years prior to his retirement, he was a litigator at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, which he joined upon graduation from Harvard Law School (magna cum laude) and Northwestern University (combined B.A/M.A. degrees with distinction and Phi Beta Kappa).

About the Timeline project:

Trump’s connections to Russia began more than 35 years ago and didn’t end on Election Day 2016. Facts should be the starting point for understanding those connections, their implications, and Trump’s persistent efforts to squelch serious inquiry into them. But the story is complicated and Steve seeks to shed light on these events by telling the story as it unfolds.

Steve, his daughter Emma S. Harper, and the producers at BillMoyers.com launched the Trump-Russia Timeline in February 2017 with 25 entries. It now has more 1,500 and is updated regularly. The producers at BillMoyers.com developed the interactive vehicle that makes those facts accessible to readers. Readers can browse entries chronologically, focus on a particular date range, or use the name filter to click on one or more individuals to see where they fit in the overall narrative.

Referring to the Timeline, former assistant Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman said, “That’s the most enlightening thing you can possibly read. That’s the best source out there on this stuff.” MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell called the Timeline “the greatest tool that we journalists have to work with every day as we stare at this story.”

Thomas Jefferson wrote that a well-informed electorate is a prerequisite to democracy. The Timeline is a modest contribution to that effort.